In the first part of this chapter we have a type of the marriage of the Messiah with His earthly people; and in the second part we have the judgment, which follows, by the Messiah Himself, for the purification of everything before He can reign. The vessels of purification which serve for the cleansing the filth, in order to their being brought nigh to God, will one day be filled with excellent wine, that is, with Millennial joy. Joy could not be known by Israel while they were under law, but the Messiah reserves for them the fullest joy under His reign.
From verses 13 to 17 we have the judgment. This market in the temple was established for the convenience of foreign Jews, that they might find there their offerings and the exchange of their moneys. But Jesus, filled with zeal for the interests of His Father, purifies the temple by expelling from it all who profane it—a figure of what shall be when He comes in His glory. Then He will purge the kingdom of all the workers of iniquity, and afterward He will reign. At verses 18-22 Jesus promises the Jews a sign of His divine authority, but such a sign as, when they have of it, will be too late for them; for they will have already put Him to death. He calls His body the temple of God—that of the Jews was no longer God’s temple.
The last three verses belong more properly to the next chapter. Many are said to have believed in Jesus because of the miracles which He did. This faith was not the true faith, but a faith of human opinion which did not separate from the world, nor from the things of the world. This faith, resting only on the sight of the miracles, is worth nothing; the conscience is not touched. There is a faith which man can have of himself; it is not divine; it is not that which is the gift of God. Therefore the Lord does not trust them. They may be sincere; and have a true conviction, but Jesus does not see in them the work of God; and what is of man is worth nothing before God—sooner or later it disappears. This may be said of every conviction received from education, or in any other such way whatsoever; it is only what is in man and of man. Of this class are those described in Heb. 6: 4-6, 8. These people are more advanced; they have received all the blessings there are in the church; as it is said, “The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, if it bear thorns and briars, will be burned,” which means, that in these persons there was no internal change-their consciences were not affected; the work is purely external, and, therefore, they may fall away and never be restored.